In two incidents, he forcibly grabbed cellphones out of the hands of female victims

Published Jan 18, 2015 at 1:56 PM

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Surveillance image of the suspect in two recent cellphone robberies on the CTA Red Line.

A teenager has been charged with stealing cellphones from CTA passengers in two separate incidents over the past three weeks.

The 17-year-old man, of the 4600 block of North Clifton, was arrested and charged Saturday. He is accused of forcibly grabbing cellphones out of female victims' hands at the Wilson Red Line station in the Uptown neighborhood, according to police.

The first incident occurred at about 2:15 a.m. on Dec. 28. The second occurred at about 10:45 p.m. on Jan. 14.

Video surveillance captured the teen and led to his identification and arrest, police said.

Police Warn of Thefts on Red Line

There have been three similar incidents at the Wilson station on the Red Line recently, police say. NBC Chicago's Katie Kim reports.